The Vaucluse criminal court in Avignon, France, convicted 51 men including the main defendant Dominique Pelicot in a rape trial on Thursday. The case sparks debates on adding the consent element to the current definition of rape under the French Criminal Code.

Dominique admitted to drugging and raping his now ex-wife, Gisele Pelicot, and inviting strangers online to rape her while she was unconscious. Many of the accused argued that the husband misled them into believing that it was a consensual sex game planned by the couple and that they believed she was pretending to be asleep. The case was discovered only in 2020 when Dominique was caught taking photos up the women’s skirts in a supermarket and police found the videos and pictures of the abuse he had been hiding for a decade.

Gisele had waived her right to anonymity and attended the courtroom hearing. Gisele had agreed to show the videos of the abuse taken by Dominique in the courthouse and said she hoped this would help other women speak up. In her testimony in October, she expressed, “I’ve decided not to be ashamed, I’ve done nothing wrong,” and said, “They are the ones who must be ashamed.”

After a three-month-long trial, Dominique was convicted of rape and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, and 46 other co-defendants were convicted of rape, two guilty of attempted rape, and two guilty of sexual assault with imprisonment of between three to 15 years. 

Gisele said to the supporters cheering outside the courthouse: 

My heart goes out to the unacknowledged victims whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same struggle. When I opened the doors of this trial on September 2, I wanted society to be able to seize the debates that took place there. I have never regretted this decision. I now have confidence in our ability to collectively grasp a future in which everyone, woman and man can live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding. Thank you.  

Two members of Parliament’s Delegation for Women’s Rights told Reuters in October that the party has resumed working on a bill that would redefine the legal definition of rape. “Rape” is currently defined as “any act of sexual penetration, of any nature whatsoever, committed on another person or on the perpetrator by violence, coercion, threat, or surprise is rape” under Article 222-23 of the French Criminal Code. According to a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women in 2020, the code requires the assessment of the victim’s lack of consent based on the perpetrator’s behavior such as the use of violence, coercion, threat, or surprise. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Committee’s General Recommendation No. 35 recommends that the definition of rape should be based on both the absence of consent and the use of coercive circumstances in line with international standards.